Internet Marketing for Small Business: tools, strategies and solutions for small businesses marketing on the internet.

A Word of Warning!

Now, the simplest way to start marketing your small business on the internet is to have someone do it for you. Nothing wrong with that. After all, your time is better spent doing what you're good at, which is running your business. But ...

Do remember ...

Your business website is a marketing tool. It is not intended to win awards for artistic merit (if it does, so much the better; but that's not what it's there for). So make sure that whoever produces the content for your website is a marketing specialist. Hire a designer by all means ... but do remember that his job is to design your site. Producing the content is marketing task.

This is not intended to knock designers. Ideally, you'll have an artistic design that works as a marketing vehicle. Just remember that a good design is a means to an end, and not an end in itself.

The marketing of your business is what your website is for. You measure its success by how much business it generates for you. More accurately, you measure its success by its effect on your bottom line.

Am I talking your language? I thought so!

Let's go into this in a little more detail - and let's start by dispelling a myth. Here goes:

It's not magic!

There's nothing magical about the internet; it is simply another direct response medium for you to use to reach your prospects, clients and customers. As most of the same rules apply to the internet as apply to other direct response media.

Just to be clear, direct response marketing means making a direct approach to your prospect, client or customer, and asking him or her to respond in a specific way - and to do so now!

And the first rule - the most basic, fundamental rule of direct response marketing, the most glaringly obvious one, yet the one so many businesses fail to see - is this:

What response do you want?

You must know exactly what response you want your reader to make - and use your web space to steer him or her towards that response.

Because if you don't know what you want him to do next, he certainly won't know!

So, whether you're writing a sales letter, a Yellow Pages entry, a newspaper advertisement, a flyer, a coupon or a website, always ask yourself:

What action do I want my reader to take now?

Do you want him or her to place an order straight away? Or book an appointment to see you? Or call for a representative to visit him? Whatever it is, make it easy and obvious.

And with a website, whatever your "most wanted response" (MWR) is, there should be a second MWR: your visitor should be encouraged - even bribed - to give you his or her name and email address. Then you can reinforce your message to those - probably the majority - who visit your site once, mean to come back ..... but never do. If you have their names and email addresses, you can keep in touch and send new offers.

You'll collect names and email addresses with an opt-in box like this one:

We'll go into the mechanics of how to do this a little later. First, let's look at the mechanics of putting a website up, starting with choosing a Domain Name.